What genre do you
write?
I write mostly contemporary and paranormal romance.
Please tell us about
your latest release , Back To You, and how you came up with the idea/
With Back To You,
I started with the central location of an idyllic little town called Unity, and
worked out from there. I wanted to write a story where one of the characters,
in this case, Nick Lincoln, is coming out of a long term relationship and
trying to restart his life after being with the same woman for twenty years.
Then along comes his first and real love, Lynsey Reznor, who is now extremely
successful and single.
Is it part of a series?
Yes, Back To You
is really the first in my Unity set books, even though Change of Address was released first. I’m currently working on the
third story, Amii’s Angel. If you’ve
read Change of Address, you’ll
recognize Amii Sloane and Ryan Maine.
Advice to writers who
have yet to be published.
Always seek out a comprehensive novel writing
class-preferably one with a mentor. As a reviewer, time and time again I see
new writers fall down because they don’t understand the building blocks of a
novel-idea, setting, plot, point of view, characters, scene, etc.
Is there a genre you haven’t written yet that you want to?
I’m starting to dabble more and more into the horror genre.
My novella, Remember The Stars, contains a lot of horror elements.
What are you working
on now?
I’m getting ready to write my third Unity story, Amii’s Angel, which is a contemporary.
I’m also working on a paranormal novella.
On the
surface, Lynsey Reznor seems to have it all. She is beautiful, brilliant, and a
successful true-crime writer who has been living the past decade in Miami. But
what Lynsey lacks is what she needs the most—a family.
After the
death of her mother, and yet another failed relationship, Lynsey makes an
impulsive decision to return to her hometown of Unity. But Unity will present
its own bittersweet memories, most notably, her first love, Nick Lincoln.
Twenty
years ago, Nick broke teenager Lynsey’s heart when he decided to marry another.
He had his own private reasons—reasons he never explained to Lynsey. Now she is
back, along with a chance to reclaim her love. But Lynsey wants answers from
him that he may never be able to give out of duty and guilt.
Excerpt
When he
heard her, he came to her, took her into his arms, and kissed her. It was a
comfort that he wasn’t regretting their lovemaking. She didn’t think she could
handle being rejected by him twice in her lifetime.
“Do you have to leave soon?” she asked.
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to, but I have
to.” He went to the stove and prepared her a cup of coffee. “I think we should
start planning our wedding. We could be married at Christmas.”
She was taken aback. Is this his proposal
? This was supposed to be so romantic
and memorable, not talk about planning a Christmas wedding while he stirred a
cup of coffee.
“Do you even want to get married?” She
took the coffee mug he offered. “I mean, it wasn’t that long ago that you told
me you weren’t sure you ever wanted to be married again. You said you didn’t
see fatherhood in your future, and Nick, I want a baby…more than one. I grew up
as an only child and I was so alone. I don’t want my child to have to
experience that.”
“Well, I didn’t use a condom last night.
You could be pregnant right now,” was his reply.
Heaviness descended upon her heart. This
was so not how she wanted this morning to be, and certainly not the marriage
proposal she had dreamed of. “I’m on the Pill—I won’t get pregnant if that’s
all you’re worried about.”
“I’m sorry, that’s not the only reason we
should get married.”
“Then why?” she asked suspiciously.
He let out an exaggerated sigh. “Lynsey, I
don’t have time to get into this with you right now. What do you want me to say
in the five minutes I have before I leave for work?”
She couldn’t believe his glib
attitude. “How about saying something to
me like…‘I love you, Lynsey, and I made a tremendous mistake by not marrying
you twenty years ago?’ That would take you less than thirty seconds to say, and
you could have easily gotten to your precious job on time.”
Suddenly his jaw set and his eyes
narrowed. “I didn’t make a mistake by not marrying you twenty years ago! I let
you go to become a success in life—and you did. I can’t regret that!”
“So, what I thought all these years was
correct. I was nothing to you but a quick and easy way to shed your virginity.”
Just saying the words was devastating.
“That’s not it at all,” he vehemently
insisted. “You were always so intelligent. I mean, you were a sixteen-year-old
senior in high school! Just how many grades did you skip over, anyway?”
“Two,” she answered in a low voice.
“Do you know what would have happened if I
hadn’t married Kelly?” He didn’t wait for her reply. “I’ll tell you what. You
and I would have been ostracized by everyone in this town! We would have had to
be married right away, and we would have had to live with your mother, because
I had no money.”
“My mother loved you. She would have been
happy to have us live with her,” she interjected.
“And we were so naïve, Lynsey. You would
have graduated high school with either a big belly, or a baby in your arms…if
you had graduated at all.”
She crossed her arms over her breasts and
looked at the floor. She was too afraid that if she looked at him she would
break down. “Some of the girls in school were married. A few of them had
babies.”
He lifted her chin and forced her to make
eye contact with him. “And you were too smart to be stuck in this town, and
just another housewife. You would have become bored and resentful.”
“I wouldn’t have known the difference,”
she countered.
“I had serious doubts then. I still have
doubts now,” he admitted.
Her dark lashes flew upward. “What is that
supposed to mean?”
“I believe that you will become bored and
restless in Unity and will want to go back to Florida or maybe California. I
have a job and a family here, Lynsey. I don’t ever want to give that up. I’m
afraid that we’ll have a child, and you’ll take my baby and leave. I can not
allow that to happen.”
She couldn’t believe what he was saying. Nothing
was further from the truth. “Do you think I would have sunk so much of my
savings into that house just to abandon it? I would never, ever do what you’re
saying. But if circumstances changed, I would expect you to support what was
best for our family. Couples who are committed make sacrifices for each other!”
It was becoming clearer and clearer that
things were rapidly falling apart between them.
“Lynsey, didn’t what happened between us
last night mean anything to you?” he asked.
She chuckled unpleasantly. “I suppose that
with us living in such close proximity, last night was inevitable. But don’t
worry about it happening again, Nick. When you get home this evening, I won’t
be here.”
“Where are you going to be?”
She wanted to hurt Nick like she was now
hurting. “I’m sure that Caleb wouldn’t mind me bunking down at his house for a
week or two.”
“Over my dead body,” he seethed. “I will
drag you away from him kicking and screaming if it comes to it. I’ll handcuff
you to my bed if need be. Believe me, Lynsey, I’ll do it!” He flopped down into
a kitchen chair and buried his face in his hands.
“I have to go now, Nick. I’m meeting your
sister for breakfast. Listen to me. You need to pull yourself together. In your
line of work, bad things happen when you lose your concentration.”
When he didn’t reply, she let out a sigh
of resignation and headed for the door. At the last minute she turned to him.
“Thanks for almost making it happen between us.”
Buy Link
Back To You
collection at Amazon: Features bonus stories Remember The Stars and Antique
Charming
http://www.amazon.com/Back-to-You-Collection-ebook/dp/B00BUCU0YI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363360122&sr=8-1&keywords=back+to+you+natalie+nicole+bates
Back To You
Single Release
Author Info
Natalie-Nicole
Bates is a book reviewer and author.
Her
passions in life include books and hockey along with Victorian and Edwardian
era photography and antique poison bottles. Natalie contributes her
unch
She
currently resides in the UK where she is working on her next book and adding to
her collection of 19th century post-mortem photos.
Author Links
Twitter:
BatesNatalie
8 comments:
Would love to win this, I love new authors...thanks
I LOVe this cover.... can't wait to read this book.
Great excerpt...I'm hooked now...added to my tbr
Thank you so much for featuring Back To You at your fabulous blog!
Thank you for all the lovely comments! I truly appreciate everyone who took the time to read a little about Back To You!
WOW!!!! THis is definately going on my tbr list...Can't wait to read it... Marie melisk1966@yahoo.com
sounds like it's going to be a "notebook" kind of love story..can't wait!!
dawnstermonster@yahoo.com
Post a Comment